2019 Preliminary summary of fatalities on
Western Australian roads
Produced and published by the Road Safety Commission
Reference number: M006
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ISSN (Print): 2209-1106 ISSN (Online): 2209-1114
Foreword
Michelle Roberts MLA
Minister for Police and Road Safety
This summary of 2019 road fatalities in Western Australia reminds us just how dangerous roads can be. When we drive, ride or walk, we take it for granted that we will arrive at our destination. Last year 164 people died in crashes trying to do just that.
It is important to collect these statistics so that we can understand more about why crashes happen and the kinds of things that we can do to prevent them.
Speed continues to be the most common behavioural factor in road deaths. Nearly half of the 2019 fatalities occurred in 110 km zones. There has been improvement in speed- related fatalities with fewer than the preceding five-year average, and the number of alcohol- related deaths is also well below preceding the five-year average.
The number of deaths caused by inattention is up 48% on the preceding five-year average and males continue to be hugely over-
represented in road fatalities.
Single vehicle crashes are still the most common fatal crash type, with 71% of
fatalities recorded last year in crashes that did not involve another vehicle or motorcycle.
These figures are not lines on a page. Each statistic is a tragedy and reinforces the need for further work to reduce road trauma in Western Australia.
I thank the Road Safety Commission for putting this document together and I commend it as an important source of information for the Western Australian community.
Contents
3
Minister's foreword
9
Preliminary summary of fatalities 2019
10
Overview
14
WA Police Force districts
16
Local Government areas (LGAs)
16
Temporal characteristics
17
Roads and speed zones
18
Crash nature
19
Common behavioural factors – definitions
20
Common behavioural factors
22
Road user type
23
Gender
24
Age
5
Chairman's introduction
26
Licence type
27
Seatbelts and helmets
28
Definitions
Preliminary Fatality Summary 2019
Introduction
Iain Cameron
Chairman, Road Safety Council
Since the start of the State’s current road safety strategy, Towards Zero 2008–2020, there has been a 30 per cent reduction in road trauma but that is little comfort to those who have loved ones affected by road crashes.
Our community surveys show that most people do not accept any death or serious injury on our roads and there is increasing belief that one day “zero” might be possible.
Following extensive community engagement, the Council is currently preparing advice for the Minister in Government for a new road safety strategy to 2030 and there is an opportunity to achieve an even greater improvement on our community journey towards zero.
But today’s reality is that in 2019, 164 people lost their lives on WA roads last year, hundreds more now live with permanent, life changing injuries, and families and communities are now left to pick up the pieces after a local tragedy.
The 2019 total number of road deaths is five more compared with the 159 people lost in 2018. This increase came from a rise in metropolitan road deaths and motorcycle fatalities.
99 people died driving on regional roads, which many of those people knew well and had driven on many times before.
In recent years metropolitan deaths have been trending down while the regional deaths
are fluctuating with only slight improvement.
One of our most enduring fatal and serious crash problems is a single vehicle running off the side of the road. Continuing to
implement life-saving treatments like audible edges and wide centre lines remains vital, the more we can do sooner, the more people will avoid serious trauma.
In the metropolitan area most crashes occur at intersections and crashes involving a pedestrian or cyclist remain a concern here and around the world. Crashes involving young drivers aged 17–20 continue to decline at nearly double the rate of our overall improvement which is a very positive sign our community actions are working to better protect young drivers and others.
Crashes involving speeding, drink driving and not wearing seatbelts are showing good reductions.
Most fatalities on our roads are due to someone simply making a mistake, not paying attention or falling asleep while travelling on a road with a 110km/h speed limit where the consequences of a crash are much more severe.
For this reason, the Road Safety Council is continuing its focus on the Safe System. This system protects road users by focussing not only on driver behaviour but also safe roads and roadsides, safe vehicles and safe speeds so that when a crash occurs as they invariably do, the consequences are less severe.
The Road Safety Council looks forward to working together with the Road Safety Commission, government agencies and the community to save lives and reduce injuries on our roads.
Preliminary summary of fatalities 2019
Unless otherwise identified, the Road Safety Commission (Commission) prepared the numbers reported in this publication based on preliminary fatality data provided by the WA Police Force. This data is accurate as at 05 February 2020. Numbers may change in the future due to police investigation, coronial inquiry or upgrade of injuries. For this reason, comparisons between this publication and others may result in discrepancies.
A fatality is defined as a person killed immediately or within 30 days of the crash, as result of the crash. This publication reports on fatalities as a result of reportable road crashes that occurred on roads open to the public from normal road use in metropolitan and regional WA. Regional WA
includes remote areas. This definition excludes fatalities from crashes where the cause of the crash was a medical condition or premeditated intent to cause harm.
This publication presents statistics on fatalities as a result of crashes that occurred from 1 January 2019 up to, and including, 31 December 2019.
This publication adopts WA Police Force definitions. Please note that these may differ from those regularly reported by the Commission (or by the former Office of Road Safety). This information should also be considered with the following caveats:
(1) These statistics have been derived from WA Police Force data, but the calculations have not been endorsed by WA Police Force.
(2) The information was sourced from the WA Police Force via the WA Police Force Traffic Enforcement and Crash Executive Information System.
(3) The information is provisional and may be subject to revision.
Most motorcycle fatalities were in metropolitan Perth (59%, 19) 20–29 years of age was the most common age group for fatalities (23%, 38)
74% of fatalities were male (122)
The one cyclist killed was not wearing a helmet at the time of crash
20% fatalities were in alcohol- related crashes (33)
32% fatalities were in speed- related crashes (52)
12% fatalities were in fatigue- related crashes (19)
23 motor vehicle occupant fatalities (including passengers) were not wearing seatbelts at the time of the crash
people died on WA roads in 2019 with 65 in metropolitan area and 99 in regional areas.
164
19% fatalities were in
inattention-related crashes (31) 2019 had five more fatalities than
2018 which was the lowest number of lives lost (159) in a calendar year since 1961
Key information at a glance
Overview
In 2019, the WA fatality rate per 100,000 persons was 6.3. This is lower than the baseline rate (2005–
2007 average: 9.7) before implementation of the State Government’s road safety strategy Towards Zero 2008–2020.
Despite this reduction, WA’s fatality rate is currently higher than expected if we are to meet the ambitions of the Towards Zero Road Safety Strategy (estimated to be 3.9 fatalities per 100,000 persons) and also higher than the current national average (4.7).2
1Denominators from Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2019). Australian demographic statistics, Australia, June 2019, (Catalogue No. 3101.0). Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.
nsf/mf/3101.0
2Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities (BITRE). Australian Road Deaths Database, December 2019. Retrieved from https://www.bitre.gov.au/statistics/safety/fatal_road_
crash_database
Figure 1. Fatality rates per 100,000 population1,2
Australia rate WA Towards Zero 2008–2020
WA rate 0
2.5 5 7.5
10
Baseline 2009 2011 2013 2014 2016 2017
Fatality rates per 100,000 population
2008 2010 2012 2015 2018 2019 2020
9.7
National Road Safety Strategy 2011–2020 9.4
8.5 8.4
7.6 7.5 6.5
7.2 6.3
7.6
6.2 6.2 6.3
4.7 4.4
3.9 6.8 6.9
6.1 5.7 5.7
5.1 4.9 5.1 5.3 5.0 4.6
In 2019, there were 164 fatalities in reported road crashes in Western Australia. This represents a 3%
increase compared to the 2018 total of 159, but a 4% reduction compared with the preceding five-
year average of 171. The reduction has occurred despite ongoing increases in our population and the number of registered motor vehicles and licensed drivers and riders.1,3,4
3Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2017). Motor Vehicle Census, 31 January 2019, (Catalogue No.
9309.0). Retrieved
4Motor vehicle drivers licence counts provided by Department of Transport, Western Australia.
Figure 2. Fatality rates per 100,000 persons by jurisdiction, 20191, 2
Jurisdiction rate Australia rate 0
4 2 8 10
6 12 14 16
NT Tas WA SA NSW Qld Vic
Fatality rates per 100,000 population by jurisdiction
ACT 25
NT Tas WA SA NSW Qld Vic ACT
14.2
6.0 6.3 6.5
4.4 4.3 4.0
1.4 4.7
Fatality count Rate per 100,000 persons
2014 182 7.2
2015 161 6.2
2016 195 7.5
2017 160 6.2
2018 159 6.2
2019 164 6.3
Consistent with historical trends, the majority (60%, 99) of 2019 road fatalities were a result of crashes in regional WA. This is equal to the preceding five-year average (99). Metropolitan WA had 65 fatalities and showed a reduction in
fatalities compared with the preceding five-year average (72). The increase in the total number of fatalities for 2019 compared to 2018, was driven by an 7% increase in fatalities in the metropolitan area (4).
Table 1. Fatality counts and rates
Figure 3. Fatality counts by region
0 30
60 90 120
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
120
90
60
30
0
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
Metropolitian WA Regional WA 102
80
87
74
119
76
91
69
98 99
61 65
WA Police Force Districts
The data reported in the 2019 Preliminary Fatality Summary is based on WA Police Force District operational boundaries.
Daily reporting of fatalities by the Road Safety Commission incorporates data from WA Police Force and Main Roads WA, who report different regional boundaries in WA.
Regional districts recorded higher fatality rates than metropolitan police districts. The highest fatality rate in the state was recorded in the Wheatbelt Police District (27.9 per 100,000 people).
The Fremantle Police District recorded WA’s lowest fatality rate of 1.1 per 100,000 people.
5The rate denominators are estimated population counts for WA Police Force districts which were
Figure 4. Indicative fatality rates per 100,000 persons and fatality counts by WA Police Force district, 20195
Fatality Rate Fatality Count
0 5 10 15 20
Mandurah Midland Armadale
Fremantle
Wheatbelt Kimberley
Mid West-Gascoyne Great Southern
South West Goldfields-Esperance
Pilbara Mirrabooka
Perth
Cannington Joondalup
25 30
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
4.6
12 13 4.7
5.4 13
3 4 1.1
1.4
6.9 10
2.3 5
1.4 5
15 27.9
9 25
18 21.9
26 8 12.9
14.3 12 22
11 17.1
Temporal characteristics
The 14 LGAs with the highest fatality count are shown in Table 2. These 14 LGAs accounted for 38% (63) of all fatalities in 2019. The fatalities
in these LGAs were distributed evenly across both local government roads (52%, 33) and State- controlled roads (48%, 30).
On average last year, 14 people lost their lives every month in road crashes.
January 2019 recorded the highest number of fatalities compared to the other months with 20 road deaths, while the most common weekday for
fatalities to occur was Saturday (29).
Fatalities in metropolitan areas were most common between the hours of 6:00pm and 8:59pm (11), while fatalities in regional WA were most common between the hours of 3:00pm and 5:59pm (24).
Table 2. Fatalities by LGA of crash – Top 14
Local Government areas Fatality count
Armadale 6
Murray 6
Kalgoorlie-Boulder 5
Port Hedland 5
Swan 5
Ashburton 4
Busselton 4
Canning 4
Derby-West Kimberley 4
Harvey 4
Mundaring 4
Serpentine-Jarrahdale 4
Wanneroo 4
Waroona 4
Total 63
Local Government areas (LGAs)
Roads and speed zones
In 2019, 80 people died in crashes on State roads (49%), and 84 people were killed as a result of a crash on a local government road (51%).
Most fatalities, 45%, occurred in 110km/h speed zones (74), followed by 24 deaths recorded in 60km/h zones (15%). In regional WA, 63 fatalities were recorded in 110km/h speed zones (64%), while in the metropolitan area, 21 fatalities occurred in 60km/h speed zones (32%).
In 2019, more fatalities were recorded in
100km/h and 110km/h speed zones compared to the preceding five year average, while deaths on 70km/h roads reduced by the highest amount.
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Five-year
average
2019
<=40km/h 5 1 0 5 0 2.2 2
50km/h 17 11 19 25 18 18 17
60km/h 30 21 24 23 19 23.4 24
70km/h 21 16 16 15 19 17.4 5
80km/h 14 19 16 15 9 14.6 15
90km/h 11 17 13 7 9 11.4 9
100km/h 14 11 10 10 9 10.8 14
110km/h 65 65 94 58 74 71.2 74
Not recorded 5 0 3 2 2 2.4 4
Total 182 161 195 160 159 171.4 164
Table 3. Fatalities by speed zone
Crash nature
There isn’t always another driver involved – 71%
of fatalities in 2019 involved one motor vehicle or motorcycle.
Almost 2 in 5 (38%, 63) of the 2019 fatalities resulted from collisions with objects such as walls and trees. This is higher than the preceding five- year average (57).
The most common crash type for fatalities in metropolitan WA was collisions with objects such as walls and trees (45%, 29). This was higher than the preceding five-year average (21). While the distribution across crash natures remained reasonably constant, metropolitan fatalities in
rear end (3), hit-pedestrian (7) and head-on crashes (3) decreased in 2019 when compared with the preceding five-year average (8, 10 and 7, respectively).
In regional WA, collisions with objects such as walls and trees (34%, 34) was also the most common crash type for fatalities. The distribution of fatalities by crash nature remained relatively stable when compared with the preceding five-year averages.
Common behavioural factors
Speed-related crashes include those crashes where police recorded speed as a primary crash factor, either alone or in combination with other factors, and/or where police recorded speed as a contributing factor. Police may record speed as a contributing factor where at least one vehicle is travelling above the speed limit or at an
inappropriate speed for the prevailing conditions.
Fatigue-related crashes include those crashes where police suspected fatigue as a contributing factor and/or the primary crash factor.
Inattention-related crashes include those crashes where police suspected inattention as the primary crash factor. Inattention includes distractions, eating, using in-vehicle devices, using mobile phones, etc.
Alcohol-related crashes include those crashes where the attending police officer suspected alcohol as a primary crash factor, either alone or in combination with other factors, and/or where police suspected that at least one driver or rider in control of a motor vehicle had consumed alcohol.
Common behavioural factors
In 2019, 96 (58%) fatalities were the result of crashes that police suspect involved at least one driver or rider behavioural factor.
Of the four behavioural factors, speed was the most frequently recorded category. About one third (32%, 52) of fatalities were in speed-related crashes. This was the same as 2018 (52) but lower than the preceding five-year average (56).
One fifth (20%, 33) of those killed were in alcohol-related crashes – a decrease of 25% on the preceding five-year average (44). It was also a 47% decrease on the peak in 2016 of 62 fatalities.
Most (76%, 25) alcohol-related fatalities occurred in regional WA.
Thirty-one fatalities (19%) were in inattention- related crashes. This was a 48% increase compared to the preceding five-year average of 21. This increase was driven largely by fatalities from crashes in regional WA, which were 64% higher in 2019 (18) when compared with the preceding five- year average (11).
Nineteen fatalities (12%) in 2019 were in
fatigue-related crashes. This was a 14% reduction compared to the preceding five-year average of 22. Most of these fatalities (74%, 14) occurred in regional WA.
Fact: In 2019, 59% of fatalities were a result of crashes with recorded driver behavioural factors.
Figure 5. Number of fatalities by behavioural factor, 2019
Fatigue Inattention Alcohol Speed
3030 6060 9090 120120 150150 180180
Fatigue
Inattention
Alcohol
Speed 52 113
33 132
31 134
19 146
These categories should not be summed, as they are not mutually exclusive.
Road user type 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 Five-year
average 2019
Motor vehicle occupant 113 120 137 108 110 117.6 115
Vulnerable road user 69 41 58 52 49 53.8 49
Motorcyclist 44 23 39 26 28 32 32
Pedestrian 16 13 14 15 15 14.6 16
Cyclist 8 4 3 7 5 5.4 1
Other* 1 1 2 4 1 1.8 0
Total 182 161 195 160 159 171.4 164
Road user type
In 2019, 49 (30%) of fatalities were vulnerable road users, such as motorcyclists, pedestrians, cyclists and other unprotected road users.
In 2019, the number of motorcyclist fatalities (32) remained the same as the preceding five-year average (32). However, despite representing only 6% of the registered vehicles for 2019 in WA, 20%
of fatalities occured on motorcycles (32)3.
Most (59%, 19) of the motorcyclist fatalities in 2019 were in metropolitan WA. The vast majority were males (97%, 31) and 28% (9) were aged between 20–29 years old.
The number of pedestrian fatalities in 2019 (16) decreased 6% compared to the preceding five-year average (15). The majority (56%, 9) were in regional areas. The most common age group for pedestrian fatalities was 20–29 years of age (4) and people 80 years old and above (4).
Cyclist fatalities in 2019 (1) were lower than the preceding five-year average (5).
Table 4. Fatalities by road user and year
115 motor vehicle occupants
32 motorcyclists
1 cyclist 16 pedestrians
*Other includes gophers, horse and skateboard riders
Gender
Males were overrepresented in fatalities,
comprising 74% (122) of lives lost in 2019, but only make up 50% of the WA population.1 60%
of all male fatalities were in regional WA (74). Of the 164 fatalities, 40 (24%) were female. 60%
of all female fatalities were in the regional area
(24). While the number of fatalities that were male and female have decreased compared with the preceding five-year averages (129, 43%), the relative proportions have not changed compared to the preceding five-year average (75%, 25%).
Males
48 metropolitan, 74 regional
Females
16 metropolitan, 24 regional
1Denominators from Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2019). Australian demographic statistics, Australia, June 2019, (Catalogue No. 3101.0). Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.
nsf/mf/3101.0
3Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2019). Motor Vehicle Census, 31 January 2019, (Catalogue No.
Age
The 20–29 year age group recorded 38 fatalities last year (23%), the highest number of any age group. However, that was a slight decrease in the preceding five year average for that age group (Figure 6).
The lowest fatality rate was in the 0–16 age group (1.2 per 100,000 population).
Compared the preceding five year average, there were fewer deaths recorded by children aged
0–16 years, down from 2.0 to 1.2 per 100,000 population, fatalities aged 17–19 years reduced from 12.7 to 7.5 per 100,000 population and there was a reduced fatality rate of 6.8 to 5.8 per 100,000 population in 70–79 age group.
An increase in fatalities was observed in the
40–49 year age group from 8.2 to 9.4 per 100,000 population and those aged 50–59 years, from 4.5 to 5.2 per 100,000 population.
The 38 people aged 20–29 years old who lost their lives represent 2,239 potentially healthy life years lost.
77Potential life years lost were estimated by multiplying fatality counts by age and gender–specific life expectancies from: Australian Bureau of Statistics. (2018). Life Tables, States, Territories and Australia, 2016–2018 (Table 1.5), (Catalogue No. 3302.0.55.001). Retrieved from https://www.abs.gov.au/
Figure 6. Fatalities by age, five-year average and 2019
Figure 7. Fatality rates by age, five-year average and 20192
2Department of Infrastructure, Regional Development and Cities (BITRE). Australian Road Deaths Database, December 2019. Retrieved from https://www.bitre.gov.au/statistics/safety/fatal_road_
0 10 20 30 40
0–16 17–19 20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69
Fatalities by age, five-year average and 2019
50
70–79 80+
0 0-16 17-19
Five-year average 2019 count
0 3 6 9
0–16 17–19 20–29 30–39 40–49 50–59 60–69
Age-specific fatality rates, five-year average and 2019
12
70–79 80+
15
12 15
Five-year average 2019 rate 2.0
1.2
12.7
7.5
5.8 6.8
8.2 9.4
4.5 5.2 5.6
6
6.8 5.8
14.213.8 7
11 12
7
42 38
26 23
29 33
1417 1416
10 10
1213
11.210.7
Licence type
In 2019, 229 people were involved as motor vehicle drivers or riders in fatal crashes. Most (78%, 178) of the recorded motor vehicle drivers and riders involved in fatal crashes were appropriately licensed. However, one in ten
(10%, 24) had no licence or an expired,
inappropriate, suspended or cancelled licence.
This number is fewer than the preceding five-year average of 33. It should be noted, however, that involvement does not infer liability.
10% of recorded drivers/riders involved in fatal crashes were unlicensed.
Figure 8. Motor vehicle driver/riders involved in fatal crashes by licence type, 2019
Full licence Unlicensed Learner/Provisional Not recorded
Motor vehicle driver/riders involved in fatal crashes by licence type
Full Licence Unlicensed Not recorded
Learner/Provisional
78%
10%
8%
4%
Seatbelts and helmets
Of the 115 motor vehicle occupant fatalities in 2019, 23 (20%) were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash. This number is 21% lower than preceding five-year average (29). Most of these fatalities (20) were in regional WA.
The one cyclist fatality and three of the 32 motorcyclist fatalities were not wearing a helmet at the time of the crash.
Figure 9. Motor vehicle occupant fatalities recorded as not wearing an appropriate restraint by region and year
20% of motor vehicle occupant fatalities were not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.
5 10 15
0 20 25 30 35 40
2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019
38
28
10
35
27
8
25 21
22
18
4 4
25 21
4
23
20
3
